


Light Hands, Light Hearts

by gemini28



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-07-12 11:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini28/pseuds/gemini28
Summary: Kravitz is one of the best detectives in Faerun, with a whole catalog of solved cases in his office. But when he's handed a case involving mysterious thieves and ancient relics, he might just find out that he's finally met his match.





	1. A New Job

 

One of the most important things to living in a city is to know where the best of everything is. The best food, the best place to buy clothes, the best places to be alone. Of course, some places differ from person to person, while others are the same across the board. 

And if you want a mystery solved, you go to the Corvids. 

Situated in a smallish office in the corner of one of the nicer buildings, the Corvid’s main hub is not what you would expect from a group with such a high rate of success. They have...peculiarities that other people (mostly their rivals) might say harms their work. 

“You know, you’re going to have to give in eventually.” 

But most are more charming than anything. 

“I wouldn’t want to have to turn to drastic measures-” 

“Sir?” 

Detective Kravitz, founder of the Corvids and known overall as a serious man, jumps from where he was standing in front of an elaborate bird perch. On the perch is a sleek, obviously well taken care of raven. 

“Angus! What are, uh. I wasn’t expecting you.” Kravitz says, slipping out of his work accent as he gets more sheepish. “...Queenie won’t take her medicine. Ahem. What can I do for you?” 

Angus Mcdonald, the youngest detective in the group by a country mile and one of the smartest people Kravitz has ever met, adjusts his glasses. 

“Well, sir, a notice came in from the police captain. He wants to talk to you right away, at the precinct!” Angus peers at Queenie for a moment. “She likes to eat her medicine with wet food, sir. She’s very particular.” 

“The captain? He can’t just call? No, don’t answer that, I’m aware that I was...Distracted.” Kravitz seems to fluster for a moment, before straightening up. “Could I trouble you to take care of things while I check this out? If he contacted us himself, then it must be important.” 

“Certainly, sir! But keep me updated, please, I have a good feeling about whatever case this turns out to be!” Angus salutes, and Kravitz returns it without even thinking about it. Angus just has that effect on people. But he’s perfectly capable, and Kravitz leaves the office with only a bit of worry still on his mind. 

The city of Neverwinter is a good place to live. An even better place if you’re in the detective business. There are as many criminals trying to get a leg up as there are perfectly average joes. Ever since Kravitz started up his agency, he’s never been at a loss for cases. Granted, most of those were of the lost cat variety in the beginning, but he’s certainly gained traction with the city’s police force in the time since. And now that Angus is working with him, he knows that things can only get better. 

Kravitz hopes that “get better” mostly means “making more money” and less “getting shot at by irate criminals”. He knows of Angus’ history. He knows he’s not worrying for nothing. 

Especially today. He’s getting close to the police station, and there’s almost an ominous air around it. Every officer he glances at seems to be nervous, on edge. It does not bode well. 

It takes no time at all to get to the captain’s office. Captain Captain Bain sits in his office, heavy brow wrinkled with stress. Kravitz gets along with him, both because he’s a no nonsense kind of captain and because he’s never made a comment on Kravitz’s name. He’s extended the same courtesy to the captain and so they’ve reached an unspoken appreciation for one another. 

When he looks up and sees Kravitz, some small amount of exasperation seems to ease from his brow. He waves him inside, and Kravitz shuts the door behind him. 

“Good to see you, detective.” Bane says, even gruffer than usual. “I know you must be busy, but this is important.” 

Kravitz sits. His nervousness is not improved by it. 

Bane reaches into his desk and pulls out a small plastic bag. Inside is a small blue and white paper. Kravitz picks it up, frowning when he reads a date (tomorrow) and place (the city’s biggest museum). It’s signed with what looks to be a stylized hourglass. 

“Okay,” He says. “So what am I looking at here?” 

“They’re called the Balancers.” Bain tosses a file onto the desk as well. “They’re a group of thieves that target only the biggest museums. That they exist at all is usually tightly under wraps, but we need help with this. They know too much about the local police to put officers out there. Bringing in a third party is the only option for us.” 

“That...makes sense. I would have thought your Lieutenant would be all over this case, but if she would be easily recognized…” 

“She would. And, she doesn’t know about this case. You, I, and a few of my superiors do. And we want to keep it that way.” 

“Yes, I’m familiar with the concept of confidentiality.” Kravitz says. He picks up the calling card and studies it for a moment. “Do you know what they’re planning to steal? The museum is a big place, and I can think of a dozen things off the top of my head that they might want.”

“The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet is their most likely target. It’s similar in security and importance to one of their previous heists. But believe me, it isn’t something we want to fall into the wrong hands.” 

Kravitz can’t help but to frown. The idea that there’s something that could actually warrant that kind of ominous statement… Well, it isn’t surprising. But the fact that it’s just out in the middle of the museum, for any kid to bump into and knock over, that doesn’t exactly fill him with confidence. But on the other hand, it’s really none of his business so long as it doesn’t become a problem. 

“Alright. I’ll be able to stop them.” 

\-------

It’s hours later, and Kravitz is regretting his choice to be so confident. 

The Neverwinter Museum is huge, and a talented thief could find about three dozen points of entry just from closing their eyes and pointing randomly. There are skylights and wide open doors and entrances to the outer gardens that don’t lock. And that’s not even getting into all the exhibits that someone who was determined enough could absolutely hide in.

And then there’s the security. Of course, it’s impressive, but that doesn’t mean Kravitz trusts them. Bane seemed worried enough about the Balancers that they’re probably really impressive. Impressive enough to be able to go undercover, he bets. 

Angus is on a hunt for any information to turn up about the Balancers, so Kravitz is going to have to deal without his keen eyes and sharp mind. But it’ll be fine, he’s sure. He’s dealt with thieves before, and he’ll deal with them again. 

He situates himself within one of the other exhibits after a lengthy discussion with the manager. It’s some sort of modern art that he can’t quite get but which gives him a perfect place to hide from anyone near the Gauntlet. It’s amazing uncomfortable, crouching like this, but he’s been in worse conditions on stakeouts. At least there’s enough room to stretch out when he really needs to. 

Waiting is Kravitz’s least favorite part of any case. He’s patient, sure, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to wait hours and hours for whoever he’s going after to show up. Even more, since he’s not in a car he can’t just do paperwork while he waits- That would make far too much of a mess for him to maneuver around later on. So all he can do right now is wait. 

And wait. 

It takes until late into the night for Kravitz to feel like maybe he’s been duped. He would have expected someone to come here by now, or at least make an attempt by slipping in among the crowds. There are so many wards and spells making the skylights strong that it would be a dumb thief indeed who wanted to try and get in that way-

Almost as if reading his thoughts, there’s a creaking from above. 

As he stares in disbelief, a long rope is lowered from one of the now open skylights and a humanoid figure starts to make their way down it. They are surprisingly nimble and drop to the floor with utter silence. It shocks Kravitz to realize that none of the alarms go off. When were they disabled? Are there more people here? 

Kravitz moves in as the thief sets down a large bag and approaches the Gauntlet. He might not be a rogue but it doesn’t take one to know how to cast a few silencing charms on clothing. He creeps up behind the thief and hears soft muttering. It seems that whoever this is, they can’t keep their mouth shut for very long, even when they’re supposed to be quiet in a situation like this. 

They reach out for the Gauntlet, and Kravitz grabs them by the wrist. They turn to him on a dime, and he gets a good look at them up close to him like this. They’re an elf, with dark skin and strands of blond hair falling against their face. They scrutinize him with purple eyes and scoff, as if he’s committed some unspeakable crime against them, specifically. 

“Well, you aren’t supposed to be here bucko.” 


	2. An Unexpected Entanglement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz meets a new friend via the worst first impression in history, and finds out a little more about the mystery he's gotten into.

Kravitz has apprehended a lot of criminals in his day. But it’s been a damn long time since he’s met one that’s  _ flippant  _ about being caught red handed. 

“Me?” He says, incredulously. “I’m not the one who’s trying to steal from a museum! And by the way, you’re under-” 

He doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before the elf grins, waves a gaudy umbrella (what the fuck?) at him, and there’s a shimmer of magic in the air. Kravitz braces himself for whatever it is, but nothing in his long years of working could have prepared him for a bunch of black tentacles shooting up from the floor and wrapping around him tightly. 

“You’re joking.” Kravitz can’t think of any other way to react. What are you supposed to say when some random thief has just cast Black Tentacles all over you? He tests them, but the tentacles are unfortunately just as strong as he thought they might be. Dammit. 

“Nah, I joke about a whole lotta things but you’ll find that keeping handsome men from barging into shit they don’t get is something I’m real serious about.” He takes something out of his bag and starts to fiddle around with the glass case surrounding the Gauntlet. Kravitz expects the alarms to start the second he touches it, but the museum stays silent. 

“What do you want something like that for? I checked, it’s not worth much money on any markey, and there’s only one of it so it’s not like you’re looking for a new addition to your wardrobe.” Kravitz looks over the other man. “And you’re a magic user, anyhow.” 

“Sorry, handsome, that’s need-to-know info that is super locked down. But, how’sabout I ask _ you  _ something?” He glances back towards Kravitz, his eyes surprisingly piercing for such a sleepy looking man. “How the hell does some nosey good guy find out about what’s going down tonight? I know for sure no one was supposed to be here.” 

“Huh?” Kravitz is...genuinely taken aback. That doesn’t quite line up with the whole message the police got. But...maybe this guy is just some grunt that was hired and was given bad info. Or no info. “The message sent to the police sort of broke the suspense of where you’d hit, you know. Probably should have taken a bit more time to make it vague.” 

“...Message? What are you talking about?” He looks puzzled, and before Kravitz can gloat about how he’s  _ obviously  _ out of the loop in his own organization, there’s a loud buzzing. 

“Yo! Taako!” Comes a gruff, possibly buff, male voice from seemingly nowhere. The elf- Taako, he guesses, good lord and he thought he’d heard all the bad names possible- stiffens and his ears go from relaxed to practically pointing to the floor. “What’s takin’ you so long?” 

Taako snatches a Stone of Farspeech from his belt and glares at it for a moment before holding it up.

“Heeey Maggie you goddamn moron. I’m in the middle of the job don’t just go and blast my identity all over the place for the gods and everyone to see!” 

“What? It’s not like there’s anyone there to hear-” 

“Weeeell actually as it turns out someone IS here! Listening! To you blabbing!” Taako pinches the bridge of his nose, heaving a long sigh before glancing at Kravitz. He switches the stone off in the middle of an apology by the man on the other end. “Sorry ‘bout that, Maggie is a big blabbermouth. Aaanyways, no chance you could just forget that little faux pas, is there?” 

Kravitz glares at him, and Taako shrugs. 

“Hey, it was worth a shot. Well, I guess I  _ am _ pretty easy to find out about.” He tosses his long, blond hair in a pointed way. “So, for your later references, that’s T-to the double a-ko. Aha!”

While Kravitz digests the fact that he’s just been handed this information, the contraption Taako had put onto the glass has finished its job, popping off of the case and bringing along a perfectly circular cut of glass with it. No matter how much Kravitz cranes his neck, he still can’t quite figure out how whatever that is works. Dammit. 

“You know that this isn’t going to work out in your favor, right? I know your face. I know your name. And I know that “Taako” is not a common elven name.” Kravitz tries the age old tactic of bullshitting. There are probably thousands of elves with long blond hair and dark brown skin. There are probably hundreds named variations of Taako. Taako could even be a code name.

But if he can convince Taako that he’s confident, it might shake some of his own confidence. 

“Mmmm, yeah, you do. And you seem pretty smart. Buut.” Taako leans in, a wild smile standing counter to how ethereal the rest of him looks. “I got shit on my side you can’t even dream of, handsome. So. Toodles!” 

Before Kravitz can even formulate a response to that, Taako is reaching up to grab the rope he came in on and giving a good, hard yank. He shoots up quick, and Kravitz can only glare. 

Well, he can only glare up until about a minute later, when there’s a loud click and alarms start screaming. 

Kravitz struggles in earnest against the tentacles, but they’re  _ still _ determined to stick to reality. So it’s with not insignificant embarrassment that he’s still tied down when the guards come running in. 

It’s a bit of a mess, at first. Between them not all recognizing him at first, to them trying to figure out which of the alarms sprouts tentacles, it takes a good ten minutes to get everything settled. And by that time, Kravitz is positive that Taako is not only long gone, but laughing wherever he is. 

The worst part is, when he gets back to the office, Angus is waiting there with a big smile. 

“Er...Angus? I didn’t expect you to be here so late.” Kravitz looks around. Everything is well taken care of, and Queenie is napping comfortably on her perch. So...no reason for Angus to still be here for work- Oh who is he kidding. Angus absolutely knows about where he went today, that’s just the kind of kid he is. 

“Yes, sir! I know I technically was off hours ago, but I was so excited to hear about the results of your investigation for the Captain!” Angus already has his notebook out, eyes twinkling behind his glasses. “How did it go?”

“...I know you’re just asking that to be nice.” Kravitz sighs, heavily. “It...well, it was a mixed bag, actually. I didn’t stop the thief, but I did get a lot of information about him. Hopefully real information and not just glamoured stuff. Would you mind-” 

“I would be honored to be able to help you, Mr. Kravitz!” Gods bless Angus. Even when Kravitz has fucked up, he still looks happy and determined. Kravitz walks over to his desk, sits down, and pulls out his own notebook. He’s not much of an artist when compared to the professionals, but he can hold his own a bit. He tears off the page once he’s done filling it with all the information he can remember, and hands it to Angus 

“Here,” He says. “If you could look into anyone matching this description and let me know about them, that’d be fantastic. I’m not sure how far we’ll get, but anything is better than nothing.”

“This is so exciting! We haven’t had a real proper mystery like this in ages!” Angus scans the paper, excitement obvious in every movement. “Taako...What an unusual name, especially for an elf! I’m sure I’ll be able to find something.” 

“Good, but don’t stay up too late, okay? I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to figure this out. Oh. And, er, Angus?” 

“Yes, sir?” 

“Do me a favor.” Kravitz taps a finger on his desk before nodding. “Don’t let the captain know what we find.”

“Sir?” 

“It’s just...a feeling, you know? A bad feeling.” Angus looks at him for a moment, before nodding. And Kravitz trusts him. Angus, of all people, knows about the bad feelings during a case. “Thanks.” 

After Angus leaves the office, Kravitz lets himself not think for a moment. His mind has been buzzing since he left the museum, but that’s no way to get some sleep. He can get into what’s going on tomorrow. And tomorrow, he’ll studiously avoid the captain for as long as he can, until it’s the right time to ask just how in the hell he got that notice. 

Ugh. Like it’ll ever be the right time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your interest in this little project of mine! I'm very excited to get into the real meat and potatoes of this mystery. And the romantic tension. So, so very much of that.


	3. A Needed Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz catches up with an old friend and learns some troubling news.

The thing about massive cases is that they aren’t nonstop action. Back when he was young, Kravitz remembers being excited for whenever he’d get a new mysterious case, looking forward to the increase in intensity he was sure to find. But he quickly discovered that paperwork didn’t stop needing to be done just because he was doing exciting chases, and the people who hired him still wanted to get reports about what he was doing. 

Which is why right now he’s suffering through writing up a report for Captain Bane. Usually it isn’t so bad, because he at least has something to show for his day one efforts. But right now? He’s had to write the sentence “got restrained by tentacles” and really just wishes he could melt into the floor. 

A knock comes at his door and he nearly runs over in his eagerness to not write further about last night. And as soon as he opens the door, he’s immediately tackled in a hug. 

“Kravitz! It’s been ages you big goofball!” Says Lieutenant Hurley, all four feet of her picking Kravitz up in what must be genuinely the goofiest hug ever. He laughs and doesn’t even bother to try and get down. It’s not like Hurley is going to drop him, after all. 

“That it has, Hurley. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He can’t help but to straighten his suit when he’s let down. It’s a habit, even if it does get him an amused look from Hurley. 

“Well, the captain sent me to pick up your report. He doesn’t know what happened exactly, but I can tell you that he knows that it didn’t go well.” 

“Great.” Kravitz covers his face and Hurley gives him a sympathetic look. “Well, I haven’t quite finished it. As you might imagine, writing about embarrassing incidents is far more difficult than when I’m successful.”

“I hear that. Maybe you just need some time to yourself?” Hurley wanders around his office and Kravitz makes no moves to stop her. She’s an investigator no matter what, and if he lets her wander a bit she’s less likely to get restless. “Maybe with me? I gotta admit I’m really curious about what happened and what you’re going to do next.”

“Take a nap.” Kravitz mumbles, but nods. “Alright. I know I won’t be able to convince you otherwise. Where do you want to go?” 

Of course, that’s just a part of how they do this. Whenever it seems like Kravitz is having trouble with his cases, Hurley appears to sling a friendly arm around his shoulder and noogie sense into him. He appreciates having someone who’s willing to spend time with him, one way or another, who isn’t a literal eleven year old. 

They end up at their favorite cafe, luckily not as busy as it usually is. It’s a favorite for Kravitz because it has the expensive foods without the matching price tag. Hurley likes it because it happens to be right across the street from her girlfriend’s garage, but Kravitz pretends not to know that’s the reason.

“So,” She says after they’ve settled and ordered. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He explains it. More or less, leaving out little details like what exact spell was used to tie him down. Hurley doesn’t need to know about the tentacles. 

“...It’s been a problem. Whoever these people are, they’re not amateurs by any means. And the captain asking me to investigate instead of requesting help from someone from a larger, more functional agency makes me worried as well.” 

Hurley’s been sitting and eating her food slowly, listening to everything he’s been saying with the patience of a saint. Or of a very bored person.

“It sounds like he has a lot of respect for your abilities, Kravitz. Not to mention that more official channels will have a lot more red tape, and you know as well as I do that that is often a death sentence for a weird case like this one.”

“...Yes, you’re right, of course.” And she is! She really is, and Kravitz just doesn’t...want to bring up the probability that this is different. It’s ridiculous to have put so much stock in a criminal’s answers, Kravitz knows this. But Taako’s confusion about the warning his own group supposedly sent has given Kravitz enormous pause. Of course, he can’t mention this to Hurley. She respects the captain a lot, and he’s sure his suspicions would reach Bane in no time. 

“In the other areas of concern, do you recognize the name I mentioned? Angus hasn’t gotten back to me yet. It sounds like the worst pseudonym the guy just made up to make fun of me, but I refuse to leave any stone unturned.” 

“Mmm...No, not really. But hey, that means you can strike all of the battlewagon racers, police, and most of the big wigs in Neverwinter from the list!” 

“Haha. Hopefully Angus will be able to fill in some of my confusion. I haven’t heard from him yet, which likely means he’s either deeply entrenched in research or a new Kid Detective novel came out.” Kravitz says this all with the utmost fondness in his voice. Angus will always have a good place in his heart, ever since the kid came up to him a few years ago and spouted off information about his current case that no one had even suspected yet, and was  _ right _ .

“Yeah, he’s a good kid. I’m kind of envious you got him before we could-” Hurley is interrupted by a spritely jingling from her stone of farspeech, and with an embarrassed grin she takes it out and answers it. And as Kravitz watches, her smile slips from her face and turns more and more horrified. 

“ _ What _ ?”

* * *

 

Kravitz doesn’t get to tag along with Hurley as she rushes off, but it turns out he doesn’t have to. As he heads back towards the office, people on the street start talking, rapidly and intensely (and in some cases in tears) about a place called Phandalin. As he stops at a crosswalk he can’t help but to listen in to a frantic conversation between a group. 

“Did you hear-”

“It’s totally gone!”

“That’s impossible, magic leaves a trace! Survivors!”

“No, look-” 

Kravitz cranes his neck, to see the picture that an elf brings up on their own stone. At first, he isn’t sure what he’s seeing, but the horrified gasps bring in a bit of context. 

He’s never been to wherever Phandalin was, and it looks like he never will. Whatever was there is nothing but a smooth plane of black, with nothing to prove that it was ever a place with people in it at all. Kravitz has experienced a lot of fucked up things in his time, seen a lot of horrible murders and magical accidents but...nothing on this scale. He’s not even sure if there’s anything that could go to this scale. 

The group continues walking, and Kravitz forces himself to head back his own way. Whatever happened to that town, it has nothing to do with him yet. If he has to deal with it, he will. But forcing his way into unrelated investigations is a good way to get into trouble and he has enough on his plate as is. He’s going to keep an eye on it, though. How can he not? Something this powerful always leads to trouble, and trouble always seems to find him. 

The first thing he notices when he gets back to the office is that there’s a large stack of papers on Angus’ normally clean desk, as well as a sticky note attached to the top. Curious, Kravitz picks it up. 

_ Sorry, Mr. Kravitz! Something came up and I’m going to be out of the office for a while! Here are all the materials I gathered on your request for information about Taako! There is a summary page at the top if you don’t have the time to read it all, which I wouldn’t blame you for sir! If there is an emergency please feel free to contact me!  _

_ -Angus Mcdonald _

Damn. And here he’d been hoping to talk to Angus about what happened. But Angus isn’t tied down to the Corvids and Kravitz can’t blame him for taking other cases. So, sighing, he picks up the papers and heads into his own office. At least he has these to distract him from that disturbing picture of Phandalin. 


	4. Some Unfortunate Actions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz has an incredibly stressful day.

Taako Taaco is one of the weirdest criminals Kravitz has ever learned about, and that’s not said lightly. 

A formerly renowned chef with his own travelling show, a mass killer, and one hell of a fashion sense. Angus’ notes haven’t given any indication that there’s a definite past that ties Taako to anything or anyone, and Kravitz’s attempts haven’t turned up anyone who’s been willing to speak to him about the elf. All he’s gotten are slammed doors in his face and dead ends. 

Angus also hadn’t been able to find anything on the so-called Balancers. Kravitz is not unfamiliar with secret societies, but to have one so utterly secretive is new. Not a breath of them has been so much as whispered around Faerun, let alone something that would gain him access. 

And now it’s been three weeks, with nothing to show for it. 

Angus contacted him during that time to give him the basics of the case. The Rockport Limited has a murderer on it, and he’s been tasked to weed them out. Kravitz often feels strange about allowing a literal ten year old to investigate such dangerous cases, but Angus has more than proved himself to be adept. 

It doesn’t mean that Kravitz is going to let him come back home without anyone to wait for him at the station, though! It’ll be much more interesting to talk to Angus face to face rather than breaking up the conversation constantly.

The train should be arriving shortly. Kravitz can’t help but to be curious about what, exactly, happened on the train. Only a couple of hours to find a murderer who’s been around for quite a while by his understanding. Angus is a great, smart kid, but even that might be a lot for him. 

Off in the distance, Kravitz can see the train. He’s never seen the Rockport Limited personally, since he’s never really had a reason to come here from there. It’s going a lot faster than he would think it should. ...A  _ lot  _ faster. Faster than it should logically be going this close to the city? 

Kravitz takes a few steps towards the train, then breaks out into a run. What does he plan to do? He doesn’t fucking know, but it’s more than obvious that the train is out of control and heading right for the city. He has to do  _ something _ , right? He can’t just stand here, not when Angus and other innocent people are on that train! 

His eyes don’t leave the train and as he watches several figures jump out of the front car. It’s impossible to see who it is from this angle and distance, and he can only hope that one of them is Angus. 

The train is only a few yards away and Kravitz realizes extremely belatedly that he hasn’t actually thought of a plan. How is he, just a single person, supposed to stop a train that’s going very very fast from crashing into a busy city? He can’t, it’s quite frankly impossible without either a lot of planning or the kind of power that he  _ certainly  _ doesn’t have- 

As he’s panicking, a large portal opens up in front of the train and with a cacophonous crash the train screams its way right into it. It disappears with as little fanfare as it appeared with, and in the sudden silence Kravitz can hear someone calling his name. 

About five seconds later he almost gets bowled over by a very excited Angus. 

“Sir! Sir! I’m so happy you’re here- Did- Did you see that?! That was amazing, wasn’t it?” Angus is breathless, in disarray from (presumably) jumping off the train, and grinning from ear to ear. 

“It was something alright! What happened? Who the hell did that?” Kravitz can’t help but to laugh. Out of relief and shock, mainly. “I had better shake their hand!” 

“Well, actually, it’s a very involved and detailed story and. To be very honest sir, I’m not sure you’re going to like the answers very much!”

“What do you mean?” Kravitz dreads the answer. But before Angus can even speak up, Kravitz’s eyes are drawn to the appearance of the other passengers walking by. Most of them he doesn’t recognize but the three taking up the rear, they get his attention. Not in the least because despite being dressed differently, Taako Taaco is absolutely easily recognizable. 

He takes a step forward and Angus tugs on his arm, clearly trying to get him to stop. 

“Sir-”

“Angus, what the hell is he doing here? And those other two he’s talking to. Are they-” 

“Sir, I promise I’ll explain everything I’ve discovered but you have to promise me that you won’t make a scene! Mister Taako just saved all our lives!” 

That gives him pause. Taako was the one who did that? Then he must be a much more talented wizard than even Angus’ information gave him credit for. And that made him much more dangerous as well. Kravitz rubs his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. 

“...Alright. I promise I won’t make a scene.” 

* * *

 

Angus is smart, but he’s still only ten. And he did just come back from a near-death experience. So he should be forgiven for forgetting to specify more deeply on the promise. Or maybe he just assumed that Kravitz wouldn’t do anything irresponsible. 

Joke’s on him. Kravitz didn’t make a name for himself by being responsible. 

He spent a little bit of time walking Angus to the precinct before making an excuse and slipping away. Now he’s been following Taako’s little trio for the past twenty minutes. It wasn’t hard to find them. When someone’s saved the entire city, people tend to know where they are. 

The trio has been walking around the city making absolute asses of themselves. Kravitz has gotten the general gist of how excitable the three of them seem to be, judging from their extremely loud, crass jokes and general nooging of one another (mostly the tall buff human he’s pretty sure is Magnus towards the other two). Kravitz hasn’t learned nearly as much as he wanted to about them. Mostly he now knows that he’s very bad at listening to jokes and not laughing, although that was already known. But with any luck? They’ll access their way home in a way he can replicate. 

Almost as if they heard his thoughts, the three stop. Taako and probably Merle wave Magnus off as the human wanders into a side alley. Dammit. Now he has to choose who to follow. If he doesn’t make the right choice, he could wander around the city for hours while the ones he didn’t follow are already back at their base. 

He pauses at the lip of the alley to decide, which turns out to be a terrible idea when a particularly meaty hand comes out of the darkness and lifts him up like a bunch of flowers. 

“Hey,” Mangus says in a cheery voice. “I knew someone was following us!” 

“Whuh.” Is all Kravitz manages to get out. Having a hand on one’s throat tends to do that. 

“Pay up, Taako!” He walks over to the other two with a big grin on his face. Taako utterly ignores him and his complaints in order to look closer at Kravitz. He squints, and Kravitz knows it’s just for dramatic effect because it isn’t even that dark. 

“Holy shit. It’s that dude from the museum. Hot dude, the one I told y’all about?” He leans against his umbrella with a theatrical sigh. As if there can be any other kind of sigh coming from him. “I thought he’d gotten bored with poking his nose into places he didn’t belong.”

“I say he should be taught a lesson!” Merle says, cracking his knuckles in….a really unintimidating manner, considering who Kravitz is currently dealing with.

“Maaaybe- Mags, put him down, you’re gonna kill him. And I don’t think we should.” 

Kravitz is dropped and he’s never been so grateful for air in his life. Then the full knowledge of the situation hits him and he can’t stop the blushing that, thankfully, only he’s aware of. He’s gotten caught snooping before, yes, but usually it’s still enough of a surprise that he can gain the upper hand again quickly. But these three don’t seem to care. Not really. It’s thoroughly baffling. 

“Shit, Taako, usually you’re all about showing off your murder spells! What’s up with him?” Magnus seems surprised, and then elbows Taako in the side hard enough that the elf almost topples over. “Is it ‘cause he’s cuuute?” 

“Maggie, I already said he was hot.” Taako’s voice is rather flat- But Kravitz can hear something behind it. Something that is maybe a bit embarrassed. He hopes. “No, it’s ‘cause he’s as annoying as Angus, and look how- ugh- helpful he turned out to be. We should at least give him a chance, I think.” 

“I would appreciate that.” Kravitz says. His voice is embarrassingly scratchy but it still sounds better than if it broke. “Honestly, accosting a perfectly fine citizen just for walking down a street-”

“Yeah, right.” Merle snorts. 

“-And accusing me of being a pain. Which, thank you very much for what must be a very high compliment from you, but I assure you that I don’t know what kind of help you’re expecting from me.” 

“Well, bud,” Taako leans down further until he’s almost eye to eye with Kravitz. It should be entertaining, but mostly it’s just intimidating. “I think you can help us help you. By not killing you. In exchange for telling us  _ who you work for _ .” 

Kravitz frowns. Weighs his options. Weighs why they want to know that, and who they’re looking for in his answer. There’s a lot of nuance to the single question and he isn’t sure how honest he should be. 

Luckily, he’s saved from answering by a crossbow bolt lodging itself into the wall next to Taako’s head. Everyone jumps and turns to see Angus standing there, his hands shaking a bit but his crossbow aimed right at Taako now. And Kravitz knows from experience that he missed that first one on purpose. 

“Sirs!” He says, his voice impressively steady. “I really must ask that you step away from Mr. Kravitz! I don’t know what you want with him or what he did but I will not allow a fellow member of the law to be harmed by you, even if you were a great help today!”

“Aw hell.” Merle looks bothered. In fact, they all do, but it’s not quite the same kind of annoyance they were directing towards Kravitz not a moment ago. This seems… Well, he can’t quite place it, but it does make him wonder exactly what happened on the train. 

“Agnes, are you saying you’re with this wet blanket? For shame.” Taako tugs the bolt out of the wall and pretends to look at it with disinterest. “Sheesh, you’re askin’ a lot out of us, you know?” 

“I-I really don’t think so! He’s important to the city and I don’t think you’d be making the right choice by harming him further!” 

Kravitz doesn’t stand, as that would take way too much attention away from Angus, but he does manage to inch his way away from the trio. He appreciates Angus much, much more than he did five minutes ago, and that’s saying something. 

“But, he could be working for-” Magnus’ voice starts out normal, but at the end of the sentence devolves into static. It’s. Bizzare to say the least, and Kravitz can’t help but to stop and stare. 

“I promise he’s not! Please, sirs.” Angus really does sound upset. Kravitz feels a bit bad for putting him in this sort of position, even though it wasn’t exactly expected. After all, he couldn’t have hero worship of them already, could he? He’s usually very levelheaded and doesn’t immediately jump to being star struck. 

Taako sighs dramatically and tosses the bolt back to Angus, who fumbles with it. 

“Fine. If a goodie two shoes like you says he’s on the level, he probably is.” He rolls his eyes and turns away in a flourish of fabric. “Let’s get the hell outta here, boys. We got a ride home to catch.” 

Kravitz almost calls out, to demand answers of  _ some  _ sort, but is silenced quick by a surprisingly sharp look from Angus. He keeps his mouth shut and contents himself with making rude gestures behind their backs. 

As soon as they’re out of sight, Angus tackles him into a hug. 

“Oh, sir! I was so worried about you! How could you run right into trouble like that, even after you made the promise!” He sounds equal parts upset and exasperated, and Kravitz hesitantly pats him on the back. He does feel terrible…

“Well, er. To be fair, I only said I wouldn’t make a scene...And I didn’t!” He says. Angus hiccups a little laugh and, oh, he’s in tears isn’t he. God, that makes him feel so fucking terrible. He hates making Angus cry, by accident or otherwise.

“I-I suppose you did! Um. Still…”

“I know, I know. I am sorry. I was only trying to see if I could gain any more information, or if they would access a way home.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It didn’t quite work out that way.”

“I understand, sir.” Angus sits back, wiping at his eyes under his glasses. “They are very interesting! But, um.”

A pause where he seems to be struggling for the right words. 

“I don’t think they’re bad. Even if they’re thieves. I’ll tell you everything back at the office, and then maybe you can understand more! Without being a lot of danger?” Kravitz smiles, a bit. He...yes. That does seem reasonable. Dammit, he knew he should have waited but even he can be weak to dramatics at times! 

“Yes, you’re quite right, Angus. I’m sorry. Let’s go back, shall we? I’m excited to hear what you were up to.” 

He stands, still a bit wobbly, and follows Angus. As he does, he realizes his stone of farspeech has been vibrating in his pocket. He...Honestly? He had thought it’d just been a mild hallucination by almost being choked out. He picks it up and raises an eyebrow at a missed call from an unknown phone number, as well as a message left. Well. No, not exactly “unknown”, since there is a name attached to it. 

John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoof, the holidays really kicked my ass for writing! Sorry about that, but hopefully things will speed up a bit now that there's a month before the next set of holidays!


	5. Meeting of the Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz gets a face to face meeting with the mysterious caller John.

It takes Kravitz quite a while to get back to his stone. First he has to spend time listening to what Angus went through, and that’s insanely stressful. He trusts Angus enough to be able to deal with regular murderers, but all the shit he went through on the train sounds a hell of a lot more than he should have to. 

Once Angus leaves, Kravitz takes a bit of time to himself. 

Whatever’s going on with these Balancers, it’s probably out of his range of experience. Probably out of the polices’ price range as well. He really should turn in what he’s learned over to Bane, turn away, and go back to cases that are less likely to murder him. He should ignore this entirely. It would be the smart decision. 

But he’s not really known for his smart decisions. To turn away from something like this, even though it’s dangerous, would be to turn away from something that could finally give him a bit of excitement in his job. Most of what he’s dealt with is petty crime, cheating spouses, and all around boring cases. That’s not what he wants for his job. That’s not what he wants for  _ him _ . 

He leaves a message for “John” explaining that he missed him and gets back to work. There’s new information to process, new thoughts to have, new- 

There’s a knock on his door. 

His first thought is that Angus is back, but the shadow behind the frosted glass is much taller. Kravitz tenses, unsure of who could have come this late at night. If it was someone he knew then surely they would have announced themselves by now. 

He stands and approaches the door carefully. While it could be any number of innocent people, he tries to trust his instincts more often than not- And here? They’re screaming at him to be extremely careful in opening that door. Readying a spell seems like overkill, and he hopes he’s right about that. 

He grips onto the doorknob, turns it, and opens the door to… A very tall, gaunt older human. He’s taller than Kravitz by a couple of heads, he’s dressed in an impeccable black suit, and he looks as if he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in decades. Despite his looks there’s immediately an aura of something about him that makes Kravitz’s hair stand on end. 

“Detective Kravitz, correct?” The man’s voice is deep, calm, but again something in it is deeply offputting. It takes Kravitz a moment to shake off his instant distrust to speak. 

“Yes. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, though. You are…?” 

“Ah, my apologies.” The man reaches into his suit jacket and pulls out a sleek business card. “I’m John Ocras. I made a call to you earlier today, but I believe we missed each other.” 

“Oh.” Kravitz takes the card and can’t help but to be impressed by it. It’s made of good stock and even shimmers a bit under the light. It’s the kind of card you use to get into someone’s really good graces. “I...Did call you back, but that was only a bit ago. I didn’t expect you so soon.” 

“Ah, I was simply in the neighborhood and decided to make my case to you, if you have the time.” John smiles as he speaks, and it’s a smile where you can tell the person smiling hasn’t done it in a very, very long time. Kravitz has met a lot of people like that and it isn’t that they’re all bad or anything, they’re just...unnerving. John seems especially so. 

Still, if he’s here for a case then it’d do to be polite. 

“Of course. Please, come in.” Kravitz pockets the card and walks back to his desk. Turning his back on John makes him indescribably uncomfortable but there’s not much he can do about it without being a huge asshole. There’s just something about him that’s...wrong. But that’s common enough when you have magic around that can destroy the very fabric of reality. 

John sits down across from Kravitz, bending all of his body in a way that makes  _ sense  _ when you look at it but definitely does not when you think about it. Kravitz allows his eyes to wander to just above John’s head to save himself a headache. 

“So, what can I do for you, then?” 

“I represent a group of concerned individuals who have all lost items to a group you’ve been investigating. I believe you call them the Balancers?” 

Alarm bells go off in Kravitz’s head. He pushes them down just enough to keep focused on his poker face. What little of one he has. 

“...Yes. I know what you’re talking about.” 

“I imagined you would.” It’s subtle, but the air of smugness John exudes is still obnoxious. “I’m offering you a job. Find these Balancers, and find the item that my colleagues want returned. For your work you will be greatly compensated.” 

“Just one item?” Kravitz can’t keep the skepticism out of his voice. “Is it something of particular value?” 

“Indeed it is. It is called the Light Of Creation.” John doesn’t show any outward emotion that Kravitz can immediately tell, but something seems to have changed about him after saying this. It’s an unnameable, but certain kind of thing. And he isn’t sure he likes it. “If you find it and return it to us, we are willing to give you...This.” 

He takes a piece of paper out and slides it across the table. It’s a check. Kravitz reads the number written there and his eyes almost bug out of his head. 

“That is...a lot.” Is all he manages to say. “And I see it only requires your signature.” 

“That’s correct. If you retrieve the light for us successfully, that is all yours. And I’m certain you’ll gain no little amount of prestige from getting rid of such criminals. Do we have a deal?”

There are a lot of things Kravitz likes to think he is. Clever, devastatingly handsome, a wonderful card player. But there’s one thing he knows for sure he is- Pretty fucking poor. He stands and offers out his hand to John.

“You have a deal. It won’t be immediate I hope you realize.” John just smiles his thin smile at him and takes his hand. 

“We can be quite patient, I assure you.” When he pulls back, Kravitz looks in his hand in surprise. There’s a black stone there, cut through with bright sparks of color. “A token, to contact me when you’ve recovered the Light. Simply break it and we’ll know you’ve been successful.” 

“Oh. Well, that’s helpful. Alright then Mr. Ocras. I will...get to work on it.” 

John smiles briefly, turns, and leaves. When the door shuts there’s a feeling of relief, as if Kravitz just narrowly missed being hit by a magic missile. He collapses back into his seat and stares at the stone in his hand. It’s smooth and shiny, but gives off the kind of magical energy that most people wouldn’t want to touch with a hundred foot pole. He hesitates a moment, before opening his desk drawer and slipping it inside. There’s no way he’s going to be able to get whatever this...Light is too fast. He might as well take things carefully. 

He can’t seem to brush off the feeling that he just made an ironclad deal with the devil, though. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoof, the holidays continue to make writing hellish. But I got this chapter up before the new year! And that involves...messing with poor Kravitz. lmao
> 
> Happy holidays and I hope you look forward to further chapters!


	6. Definitely A Relaxing Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz goes to Goldcliff to spend some time relaxing with a friend.

It’s a dreary, overcast day in the city of Goldcliff. Kravitz hasn't been here before, but he's heard enough from Hurley to know that it's unusual weather to be sure. Usually he wouldn't mind a little cloud cover, but maybe Hurley's racer rituals have rubbed of on him after all this time. 

She'd asked him to come out to Goldcliff to watch one of her battle wagon races. At first he'd thought to decline, but after a bit of thought (and a lot of insistence from her) he'd had to admit that he could use a bit of a break from his main case. And although watching one of his best friends spend her time flying across the desert doing absolutely nutty stuff.usually wouldn't be his first choice of entertainment, Hurley is talented enough that he's able to out some of his anxiety behind him. But only some. 

“Are you nervous about the race? You haven't been talking about it as much as you have with others.” He says as casually as he can. Hurley jolts a bit as if she completely forgot he was there. Which is more than likely. When she gets into battle thoughts, it takes a bit or Sloane to get her out of them. Speaking of, he hasn't seen the other woman since he came into their garage. Even more strangeness.

“Well not in the way you probably mean.” She says after a pause. She goes back to tinkering with a contraption in her lap but keeps talking. “I'm actually...Kinda worried about Sloane.”

“Ah. I was wondering why I hadn't seen her around. Are you two fighting?” It's hard to imagine. Anything intense enough to drive Sloane out of the garage entirely right before a race must be bad indeed. 

“Not….not exactly.” Hurley sighs and puts down her project. “I'm worried about her, Krav. Something funny's been going on, and I'm worried that whatever it is…Well, that it's bad. She won't talk to me anymore, and as you can see she doesn't even show up for the dang pre race work.”

Kravitz frowns. That is unusual. He knows they’ve gotten into fights before, but he can’t remember a single time that’s lead to either of them not racing. In fact, if he remembers correctly, several times their fights have been resolved during a particularly intense bout of racing. 

“Do you know what’s causing it?” 

There’s a moment of hesitation from Hurley, which sparks a few flags to Kravitz, but he tempers his instinctive need to pry. That’s only for people who he has an actual need to suspect, not a friend fighting with her girlfriend. 

“I don’t. If I did, don’t you think I’d be going around trying to figure out how to fix it by now?” Hurley buries her face into her hands and heaves a sigh. “...Sorry. It’s just all messed up.” Kravitz nods and puts a hand on her shoulder. 

“I understand. What do you need me to do?” At her surprised look, he smiles. “Well, you must have asked me here for a reason, right?” 

“Oh, right! Yeah, yeah, of course!” She smiles at him. “I need you to be there supporting me. This next race… I’m gonna try to get Sloane’s attention, and get her to talk to me.” 

He raises his eyebrows. Not exactly the action packed race time he was expecting, but maybe that’s for the best. He’s seen the races occasionally, and he’s not at all sure he’d be any good at it. Let alone survive. 

“Cheering you on from the sidelines, huh? I think I can be of assistance with that. But, are you going to be all alone out there? Isn’t that dangerous?” He can’t help but to be concerned for her, even though she’s a lot tougher than she usually seems. Battle wagon racing is no small feat, especially when it comes to doing it on your own. And winning like that? Even more difficult. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that too much.” Hurley says with a surprisingly mysterious smile. “I’ve recruited some help and I don’t think I’ll have a whole lotta trouble with them on board!” 

It’s mysterious as all hell, but Kravitz can respect that kind of secret keeping. It’s all to amp up the excitement- He’s certainly familiar with that. So after a bit longer of spending time with her and shooting the breeze he goes off to do his own job. This is almost like a vacation from his worries (not like it really works that well…) and he might as well take the time to enjoy himself. Although, to be honest part of his enjoyment does involve going to the betting offices for the races and immediately putting quite a large amount on The Ram’s group. What can he say? He’s a man of habit. 

He gets a spot early near the finish line. It’s the most popular spot to watch the race at, because you can immediately see who wins and how outlandish it is. Plus, it’s where the biggest showing of the race happens. And Kravitz knows this isn’t a race he wants to miss out on. 

It takes a few hours for the race to start. All of those overly complicated wagons take a lot more than a couple minutes to get ready and in place after all. But once they do, the excitement in the growing crowd reaches a crescendo. Kravitz finds himself surrounded and pushed in by more people than he’s usually ready for, but the excitement is contagious enough that he can’t bring himself to mind. 

On the magically-summoned screen it’s easy enough to spot both the Raven and the Ram. Not together, which is just confusing at first because Kravitz has almost never seen them apart like this. Hurley is sitting in the front of her absolutely tricked out wagon, with three assistants in the back helping her out. He doesn’t recognize them, mostly because of the masks and outfits, but they seem to know what they’re doing. 

Sloane, on the other hand, is alone. Her wagon is sleek and intimidating, and there’s definitely something off about her. He can’t put his finger on it. But there is a definite aura of...he doesn’t want to say evil. That’s not quite right. Maybe...power? Yeah, that’s better. A power he can’t figure out, because as cool as Sloane is he doubts that she’d suddenly experience an increase in her powers just because she and Hurley got into a fight. 

When the race begins, Kravitz realizes very quickly that watching archived videos of battle races is nothing compared to watching it in real time. Admittedly it might also be partially because his friends are involved that’s making it so stressful. As confident as he might be in their talent...That won’t change the stubborn hand of Fate. 

So he watches with no small amount of anxiety. At every turn, bump, and shockingly bloodthirsty attack by opponents he holds his breath and wrings his hands so hard he’s sure they’re going to be sore tomorrow. But it’s  _ exciting. _ It is! He can absolutely see why Hurley likes doing this, why she wants to break the rules a little after enforcing them. 

Earlier he had thought that watching a long race would be exhausting, just by the time it would take. But it all goes by faster than he could have imagined and before he knows it Hurley’s wagon and Sloane are the ones speeding towards the finish line. It’s going to be tight, he can tell. Hurley’s wagon is fast. But Sloane is equally so. It’s hard to guess just who is going to be crossing the finish line- 

Then there’s the flash of magic and the person who sails over the finish line, while in Sloane’s wagon, is absolutely not her. But if Kravitz remembers the rules right, that just means that Hurley won. He can’t help it, he cheers with just as much energy as the rest of the crowd. He has no idea if this will actually help Sloane and Hurley make up, but it sure was damn exciting. 

Kravitz takes a step out towards the wagons, determined to congratulate Hurley and her mysterious friends on their win, when the wind begins to pick up. It’s not unusual for a place with as little cover as the desert, but when the wind starts to whip the sand into people’s eyes it gets a little alarming. Kravitz doesn’t have to look far for the reason. 

Sloane is bearing down on them like a righteous blaze of fury and the kind of magic she’s whipping up while doing it is not natural. She goes fast enough that she overshoots the edge of the cliff and goes right over the edge. It’s so fast that Kravitz is still feeling the wind when Hurley screeches to a halt in front of the crowd, and screams:

“Sloane, no!” She rips off her mask and there’s a collective gasp from the crowd that takes a moment for Kravitz to understand. This immediately falls under the category of “not important” when the other three whip off their masks just as dramatically, only to reveal themselves to be the three insufferable thieves. Because, really, Kravitz’s luck couldn’t be worse. 

He shoulders through the crowd before Hurley can get back in the driver’s seat. He thinks he’s owed at least one answer even if that answer is staring him right in the face. 

“Hurley!” He yells. “What the- What the  _ hell?! _ ” He gestures towards the trio getting back into her wagon, as if to emphasize his question. As if there could be any doubt what his bewilderment is about. 

Hurley at least looks a bit sheepish. She walks over, gives him a quiet look, and then throws her arms around him in a hug. Not expecting it, Kravitz is almost thrown off balance, but manages to right himself in time to avoid a really embarrassing wipeout. If he’d done that in front of any of the other three he’d have to join Sloane off that cliff. 

“I can’t really explain everything that happened leading up to this but short version is: I trust these guys. And as far as I can tell, they’re my best shot for saving Sloane.” She shakes her head as he opens his mouth to protest- It must have been written all over his face. “No, I can’t have you gettin’ into this. I know you would, but you would probably snap easy under those vines. And I actually care about you.” She adds, softer, but Kravitz can see Taako rolling his eyes from behind her. 

“...I don’t want to leave you to fight whatever the hell Sloane is doing out there on your own.” He says. His chest is doing that funny thing where it burns and hurts when he tries his best not to cry. Fuck. 

“I won’t be on my own, I have these three goobers with me. And they’re a lot better than they look.” She grins and backs up towards the wagon. “I’ll be back, Kravitz, I promise!” 

Then she goes, jumping back onto her wagon and starting it up before making a truly tremendous leap off the cliff and into the dark whirlwind below. 

Kravitz stands there for a moment, stunned. What do you do, in a situation like this?

As it turns out: help the arriving police calm down the crowd. With the reveal of a popular racer and the sudden threat of maybe death from an unknown power, people are understandably in some disarray. It’s a good distraction tactic; at least by calming down panicking folk Kravitz doesn’t get to focus on his own panic. The noises of raging magic behind him are left to the background as he ushers people away. 

It isn’t until he’s back in the middle of town that he allows himself to feel a little something. And what’s meant by that is simply: he leans against a wall near a fountain and lets himself sob openly. It’s only because there’s no one around that he lets himself- He couldn’t bear it if anyone saw him crying, even if they don’t know him. It’s the principle of the thing. 

He wants to believe that Hurley will be fine, he really does. But he’s seen this kind of shit happen once too often to be particularly convinced. It always seems like it’ll go well, and then it all goes to shit and whoever was involved dies. And while he couldn’t care less about Taako and his band of misfits, Hurley is a good person who doesn’t deserve this. Whatever this is. If Sloane is the one to survive this, he swears to god that he’s going to-- Do...Something. Fuck.

He’s allowed all of a minute of feeling before a bright light envelops the general area and a loud crash occurs distressingly close to him. For a moment, he’s blinded, but it passes soon enough that he can see exactly what caused it. 

It’s Sloane. And Hurley, in her arms. 

Kravitz ignores the slowly waking thieves and runs to the two in the pool. Sloane looks less like she’s encompassed by unknown power and more like the woman he’s met before. Hurley, on the other hand, looks sick. Sicker than he’s ever seen any living person be...for very long. 

“What- What the hell happened? Hurley, are you-” He looks up at Sloane, almost pleadingly. She looks down with teary eyes and shakes her head. Hurley grins up at the two of them, and the fact that she manages to still be doing so even though she must be in agonizing pain is absolutely heart wrenching. 

“I screwed up.” Sloane says quietly. Despairingly. “I kept...looking for something that would be better than the belt. ...I’m a fool.” 

“Haha...yeah.” Hurley reaches up to touch Sloane’s cheek and wipe away some of her tears. Kravitz can only watch in muted horror. Sloane looks up, and addresses behind him. 

“Are there any more of these kinds of...powerful artifacts?” She says, and the splashing tells him that the other three have walked up. 

“...Yeah.” Says, he thinks it’s Magnus, he doesn’t want to take his eyes off of the two women in front of him to check. “A lot.” 

Sloane nods, and holds Hurley closer to her. She closes her eyes, and then looks back up at the group with fire racing in them. 

“Don’t let this happen again.” 

Then there’s another bright light, this time so much so that it actually hurts to try and keep looking at it. Then, it fades slowly, and everyone is able to look again. Standing there, tall and surrounded by gently falling petals, is a cherry tree. And in the trunk just inches from where Kravitz is sitting, are two figures lying in an embrace. 

The question for most people after they witness a tragedy is: what do you do, after the fact? Do you try to continue like nothing happened as if it wasn’t really real? Do you let your emotions consume you, until your grief and understanding are one? There really isn’t an answer that satisfies everyone. There probably never will be. 

But what Kravitz does in this kind of situation is stand up, turn around, walk over to Taako, and grab him by the front of his shirt. Ignoring all the complaints coming from the elf he takes out his wand and shoves it against his throat. It hums with magic, more promise than anything else. 

“What. Just. Happened.” He says. His voice is startlingly even and clear, for how he’s feeling right now. It’s not exactly lawful to be acting this way, no, but at least this way they have a lot less chance to murder him without him getting a good spell off. 

“Hey,” Merle steps forward, putting out what are certainly supposed to be placating hands. “Didn’t you have an accent before?” 

Kravitz stares at him. There’s a tense moment, and he is really and truly not sure where he’s going to go. Then he steadies himself, pushes away from Taako, and steps back. Taako looks smug, but there’s a bit of relief dancing behind his eyes. 

“Look, buddy, Kravitz? It’s Kravitz right,” He brushes himself off. “I know what happened but we can’t really tell you jack or shit right now. Not because we don’t want to but because we literally actually cannot. And, yeah, what just happened? Like,  _ super  _ fucked up. But you’re gonna have to forgive us for not being able to exactly chat about it.” Kravitz gives him a suspicious look. 

“And why should I trust that any of you are telling the truth?” He says. Taako shrugs and points behind Kravitz. 

“Well, look at what Sloane had on, for one.” He says. Kravitz turns around, and for the first time feels the power emanating from a sash of some sort, just lying in the water. “That thing caused all of this. And that thing is something you might recognize.” 

“...Isn’t that. Isn’t that that old sash from the...Goldcliff...museum.” He trails off as a few things click into place. He stares at it, takes a single step forward, and is promptly lifted bodily up by Magnus. 

“Nope, nuh uh buddy! You saw what that thing did to Sloane!” He sets him down a good two feet away and grins. Like Kravitz wasn’t literally just trying to kill one of his friends a minute ago. “Let the professionals handle this.” 

Kravitz watches with no small amount of awe as first Taako attempts (and, very distressingly, almost fails) to retrieve the sash. Then Merle picks it up with little problem. Something like that...it’s power is like nothing he’s ever felt before, and that includes all the brushes with actual, literal gods he’s had before. It’s unnatural in a way he cannot begin to word. 

“...So, what, that’s it? I’m not- I  _ can’t  _ let you take such a powerful artifact away just like that. I don’t know what you’re planning to do with it, or where you’re taking it, or-” He throws up his hands in frustration. Gods, but he’s supposed to be the detective here. He’s supposed to be finding out the secrets, not brushing one aside and finding himself falling into a hole with no bottom and a lot of mystery! 

The three of them look at him, then at each other, and turn away to start talking in hushed tones. He almost snaps at them, but forces himself to be patient. He did just point a wand at one of them, after all, it’s not like he can exactly talk about being the most trustworthy one here. 

After a few moments they turn back, Taako looking annoyed, Magnus looking excited, and Merle grinning. 

“Alright. Here’s the deal. We’re gonna take you back to our super secret base to figure out what to do with you.” Magnus grins and rubs his hands together. “That is, if you wanna find out more about-” 

And  here he breaks off into some kind of static. Kravitz blinks, watches his mouth as he keeps talking and making static noises and realizes...he can’t quite figure out what he’s saying. It’s like when he tries to read his lips, all he gets is his eyes sliding off of them and not being able to focus at all. It’s strange. Maybe what they’re saying really does have some basis. 

“Mags, you’re saying shit that he can’t hear.” Taako says, after what must have been a very impressive monologue. Magnus turns red, and clears his throat. 

“Well. Uhhh, c’mon! Let’s go before the cops try to catch us.” He immediately starts off in a direction Kravitz would bet good money is completely random. The other two shrug and start following him, and after a good few moments of internal debate Kravitz follows behind. 

He doesn’t like it. But there doesn’t seem to be any other choice right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one day ill write a fic for this fandom that doesnt involve an entire retelling of pttm but that day AINT TODAY


End file.
